Spend a sleepless night in Madrid, along with thousands of others.

01/09/2010

With temperatures in Madrid that can reach 40º Celsius in July and August, it makes sense to turn day into night and night into day, enjoying a long siesta then hitting the streets when the sun goes down.

With dinner at around 10.30pm, often in one of the city's superb restaurants, the Madrileños won’t think about heading for their favourite
club until after the bewitching hour, where they’ll stomp the night away ending up with breakfast in one of the atmospheric bars that re-line the stomach with ‘chocolate con churros’ (drinking chocolate and fried choux-style pastries).

If the idea appeals, you can down a coffee and join the well practised capital city-dwellers in their massive, all-night street party, the ‘noche en blanco’ on 11th September. One million people were said to have attended last year’s festival, a celebration of the city’s year-round, vibrant cultural scene.

A ‘noche en blanco’ means a sleepless night and there’ll be plenty going on to keep you awake, with concerts and themed exhibitions in the impressive ‘plazas’ throughout the extensive city centre. And it’s not just about partying: many of the city’s museums remain open until late and offer free entrance.